Cassius Clay celebrates after winning the world heavyweight boxing championship on this day in 1964. Picture: Getty

1412: Bishop Henry Wardlaw formally incorporated masters and students at the centre of higher education at St Andrews as a “university”, although it was not officially inaugurated until 4 February, 1414, when Pope Benedict XIII’s Bull of Foundation was promulgated.

1570: Queen Elizabeth I of England was excommunicated by Pope Pius V.

1760: Robert Clive left India to return to England.

1791: Bank of United States founded.

1862: Greenbacks, American bank notes, were first issued during the Civil War by Abraham Lincoln.

1932: Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria, was granted German citizenship.